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The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “Gullwing” is one of the coolest sports cars of all time. So named because of its unique, roof-hinged doors, the Gullwing was the Enzo of its era: stupendously fast, outrageously expensive, and styled to make an entrance. Clark Gable owned one; Andy Warhol painted one; Ava Gardner crashed one. No Mercedes sports car since, not even the Mercedes-McLaren SLR, has come close to matching the Gullwing’s iconic appeal.

The SLR was a bastard-child of a supercar that neither McLaren nor Mercedes-Benz engineers truly felt was their own. McLaren’s Gordon Murray, designer of championship-winning Brabham and McLaren grand prix racers, driving force behind the McLaren F1 supercar, thought the SLR overweight and overwrought; the antithesis of his personal automotive design philosophy. For their part, the Mercedes-Benz engineers were uneasy with McLaren’s free-wheeling, fast-moving development culture, and skeptical of its methods. The culture-clash car that resulted was blindingly fast and supremely robust, but oddly styled and strangely uninvolving to drive.

All of which perhaps explains the new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, a lightweight, high-tech, 571 hp super-coupe that represents the distilled wisdom of some of the best and the brightest engineers at the world’s oldest automaker. And yes, it has gullwing doors.

From Stuttgart’s point of view, the SLS AMG is meant to take care of unfinished business. The press kit suggests the car is a collaboration between AMG, and the Mercedes Technology Center (MTC) in Sindelfingen. But as AMG is Mercedes’ in-house hot-shop, the distinction is moot: the SLS is pure, 100 percent Mercedes-Benz, German down to the last rivet in its aluminum space frame.

Like the SLR, the SLS is a front mid-engine coupe, with its 6.3-liter V-8 (actually, it’s 6208 cc) positioned entirely behind the front axle center-line. The engine is based on the M156 V-8 from the SL63 AMG, but has been tweaked and primped sufficiently to warrant a new in-house codename — M159. Mercedes claims over 120 parts and components have been redesigned. The most notable change, however, is a dry sump system that allows the M159 to nestle low in the frame. The engine delivers 571 hp at 6800 rpm, and 479 lb-ft at 4750 rpm. Some 402 lb-ft is available from just 2500 rpm.

The engine drives the rear wheels via AMG’s new seven-speed dual clutch transmission, repackaged in a transaxle housing at the rear of the car to help deliver the SLS’s 48/52 front/rear weight distribution. Engine and transmission are connected by a sand-cast aluminum torque-tube, inside which is a carbon-fiber drive shaft. The transmission offers four modes — basic, Sport, Sport+ and Manual — each with different shift protocols. The transmission also has a launch-control mode that allows full-commando starts with electronically controlled wheelspin to prevent the engine bogging down off the line.

Suspension is double wishbone all-round, with the wishbones, steering knuckles and hub carriers all made from forged aluminum. Steering is rack and pinion, hopefully with better feel and accuracy than that of the SLR, which uses a modified rack from the sub-compact Mercedes A-class. Two brake packages are offered. The standard brakes are vented cast iron rotors — 15.3 in. front and 14.2 in. rear — mounted on aluminum carriers, with six piston calipers up front and four piston calipers at the rear. Mercedes claims this system will generate 1109 hp of braking power in a full emergency stop from 155 mph.

If that’s not retardation enough, however, you can order the optional AMG Carbon Ceramic brakes. The front rotors are larger — 15.8 in. — and the durable carbon fiber reinforced ceramic material is capable of withstanding enormous punishment with less wear and greater fade resistance. Mercedes claims braking power of 1120 hp from 155 mph to zero. Anti-lock modulation, and a three stage stability control system is standard. Front wheels are 19 in., while the rears are 20s, shod with specially developed 265/35 and 295/30 tires Mercedes claims offer dry road grip comparable to current pseudo-competition “Cup” rubber, but without the white-knuckle loss of traction in wet or cold conditions.

The SLS rolls on a long 105.5 in. wheelbase, and has front and rear tracks of 66.1 i.n and 64.9 in. respectively. This is not a small car. But it is light. Though final certification has still to be done, the SLS’s target weight is just 3571 lb. The body shell, which comprises aluminum panels over the riveted, bonded, soldered and bolted subframe, weighs just 531 lb. The M159 engine, which features detail weight reduction measures such as aluminum bolts, which saves 1.3 lb, forged pistons that save 1.1 lb, and the elimination of steel bore liners and main bearings, saving 8.8 lb, weighs just 454 lb dry. The 67.3 in. carbon fiber driveshaft connecting the engine and the transaxle transmission weighs 9 lb, half the weight of a comparable steel item. The transaxle itself, complete with integral differential, weighs just 300 lb, and the optional carbon-ceramic brakes are 40 percent lighter than the standard iron units.

With a power to weight ratio of 6.26 lb/hp, the SLS will be fast — Mercedes is claiming a 0-60 mph time in the 3.5 sec bracket and a top speed of 196 mph. More importantly, the SLS should also be agile, a much better canyon carver than the lumbering, hard-to-place SLR. The SLS is currently undergoing final development, with some 30 prototype vehicles expected to clock a total of 776,000 miles before final sign off in January 2010.